Peter Derek Kircher (born 21 January 1945,

Folkestone Folkestone ( ) is a port town on the English Channel, in Kent, south-east England. The town lies on the southern edge of the North Downs at a valley between two cliffs. It was an important harbour and shipping port for most of the 19th and 20t ...

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

) is a retired English

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

/ pop drummer. Between 1982 and 1985 he was a member of

Status Quo is a Latin phrase meaning the existing state of affairs, particularly with regard to social, political, religious or military issues. In the sociological sense, the ''status quo'' refers to the current state of social structure and/or values. W ...

, performing with the band at

Live Aid Live Aid was a multi-venue benefit concert held on Saturday 13 July 1985, as well as a music-based fundraising initiative. The original event was organised by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise further funds for relief of the 1983–1985 fami ...

and on the albums '' Live at the N.E.C.'' and '' Back to Back''.

Life and career

Kircher's style is rhythmic, and much of his work uses a low-tuned

snare drum The snare (or side drum) is a percussion instrument that produces a sharp staccato sound when the head is struck with a drum stick, due to the use of a series of stiff wires held under tension against the lower skin. Snare drums are often used ...

sound. As well as drums, Kircher contributed

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are use ...

to the bands he played with, and

test pressing A white label record is a vinyl record with white labels attached. There are several variations each with a different purpose. Variations include test pressings, white label promos, and plain white labels. Test pressings Test pressings, usua ...

s of a 1973 solo single – "Rockin' Lady" – are known to exist. In the early 1960s, Kircher toured Germany doing club gigs as the drummer for The Burnettes, a band featuring

Neil Landon Neil Landon (born Patrick Cahill, 26 July 1941 – 26 March 2020) was an English singer, who has been credited with singing on a number of hits in the UK Singles Chart. In addition, he was a singer and songwriter with the band Fat Mattress, ...

as singer and

Noel Redding David Noel Redding (25 December 1945 – 11 May 2003) was an English rock musician, best known as the bass player for the Jimi Hendrix Experience and guitarist/singer for Fat Mattress. Following his departure from the Experience in 1969 a ...

playing guitar. His earliest documented recordings are with Redding, who later played bass with

Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. Although his mainstream career spanned only four years, he is widely regarded as one of the most ...

. More session work followed, before Kircher was recruited in April 1967 to join

Honeybus Honeybus were a 1960s pop group formed in April 1967, in London. They are best known for their 1968 UK Top 10 hit single, " I Can't Let Maggie Go", written by group member Pete Dello who also composed their previous single "(Do I Figure) In Y ...

, who although often written off as

one-hit wonders A one-hit wonder or viral hit is any entity that achieves mainstream popularity, often for only one piece of work, and becomes known among the general public solely for that momentary success. The term is most commonly used in regard to music p ...

, produced a sizeable body of baroque pop music which culminated in a critically acclaimed 1970 album, ''Story'', which was released after the eventual dissolution of the band. Less commercially successful work with Honeybus survives in the form of two albums, ''March Hare'' (credited to Colin Hare, the rhythm guitarist with Honeybus) and ''Into Your Ears'', a solo album by

Pete Dello Pete Dello (born Peter Blumsom, 26 May 1942, Oxford, UK) is a 1960s and 1970s singer-songwriter and now music teacher. Career Dello started his career as a musician in the skiffle era of the 1950s and was a founding member of the rock and roll ...

, which were both released in 1971. Comparisons with Honeybus were inevitably drawn; the sessions bled into each other causing a reunion in all but name, and record company executives were impressed by this new work that they commissioned an album, ''Recital'', to be released under the Honeybus name. Only test pressings of this exist, as a change in management at the label aborted the planned release. The next excursion for Kircher's drumming was as a member of the band Shanghai, where he joined

Mick Green Michael Robert Green (22 February 1944 – 11 January 2010) was an English rock and roll guitarist who played with The Pirates (with and without Johnny Kidd), Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas, and Cliff Bennett and the Rebel Rousers. Biograp ...

from Johnny Kidd and the Pirates. The band produced two albums, released in 1974 and 1976, when the band supported Status Quo on the ''

Blue for You ''Blue for You'' is the ninth studio album by English rock band Status Quo. It was released in March 1976, and is the last album until 1980's ''Just Supposin that they produced themselves, which resulted in subsequent albums having a noti ...

'' tour. This, in turn, directly led to Kircher's induction into a group of

session musician Session musicians, studio musicians, or backing musicians are musicians hired to perform in recording sessions or live performances. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a recording artist on a ...

s for

John Du Cann John William Cann (2 June 1946 – 21 September 2011), later known by his stage name John Du Cann, was an English guitarist primarily known through his work in the 1970s band Atomic Rooster. Life and career His early bands included the Wilt ...

's ''

The World's Not Big Enough ''The World's Not Big Enough'' is the only solo album by John Du Cann, who was best known as guitarist and vocalist with Atomic Rooster and Hard Stuff in the 1970s. The album was recorded in 1977, but remained unreleased until 1992, and was re ...

'' album in 1977, which was produced by Quo's guitarist

Francis Rossi Francis Dominic Nicholas Michael Rossi, (born 29 May 1949) is an English musician, singer and songwriter. He is the co-founder, lead singer, lead guitarist and the sole continuous member of the rock band Status Quo. Early life Rossi was born o ...

. After spending most of 1979 as the drummer in

Liverpool Express Liverpool Express (also known as L.E.X.) are a British pop rock band formed in 1975. They are best known for charting hit songs such as "You Are My Love" (which Paul McCartney once declared one of his favourite songs), "Every Man Must Have a D ...

and contributing to their third album ''LEX'', Kircher was invited in 1979 to join

Original Mirrors Original Mirrors were a British new wave band formed in Liverpool in 1979. Featuring members of several earlier punk/new wave bands, they signed to Mercury Records and released two albums before splitting up in 1981, with members going on to play ...

, a new wave band featuring

Ian Broudie Ian Zachary Broudie (born 4 August 1958) is an English musician and singer-songwriter from Liverpool. After emerging from the post-punk scene in Liverpool in the late 1970s as a member of Big in Japan, Broudie went on to produce albums (somet ...

(later of the bands Care and

Lightning Seeds The Lightning Seeds (also known as Lightning Seeds) are an English rock band formed in Liverpool in 1989 by Ian Broudie (vocals, guitar, producer), formerly of the bands Big in Japan, Care, and Original Mirrors. Originally a studio-based so ...

) on guitar. His time in this band took him up to 1981, taking in a session playing drums on the Nolan Sisters single "Who's Gonna Rock You", before being invited to join Status Quo following the resignation of John Coghlan. Kircher's membership was announced in a press conference in January 1982. Aside from recording some tracks with Rossi and Bernard Frost for their unreleased solo album ''Flying Debris'' in 1985, little has been heard from Kircher since, although Honeybus were briefly reunited for a Dutch TV show in 2003. Kircher stated during an interview in this programme that he is now working as a

signwriter Signwriters design, manufacture and install signs, including advertising signs for shops, businesses and public facilities as well as signs for transport systems. Signwriting today Traditional signwriters use methods closely related to th ...

, a profession he first started as a school leaver."Single Luck: I Can't Let Maggie Go", an NPS production for NOS TV, 2002

References

Status Quo (band) members 1945 births Living people English rock drummers People from Folkestone Musicians from Kent People educated at The Harvey Grammar School Beat musicians Liverpool Express members {{UK-drummer-stub